


Secrets

by animemoms



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Finally filled the request, Levi's Birthday, Secret Santa, just a fic about Petra not knowing what's going on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 01:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animemoms/pseuds/animemoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Petra likes learning people's secrets, but she has yet to discover anything about her precious squad leader Levi. Lucky for her, Hanji has a big mouth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hiechuos](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=hiechuos).



Since joining the Scouting Legion, Petra had accepted long ago that her new line of work was mostly about being serious and staying alive. But as the Holiday season approached she saw a new side of the Legion that surprised her. It wasn't flamboyant by any means like it had been at her house. There was no baking or lights being lit, nor the gathering of bustling children and family members. But they had managed to go out and get a tree that was put up prettily in the square which they covered with candles and the badges of fallen soldiers. 

It was actually quite beautiful and Petra would always take some time to look at the names written under each badge before she started her day. She even saw her new squad leader Levi putting up one or two badges, his neat handwriting spelling out the names of two recent deaths that Petra herself had been around to hear about. This small act shed new light on her Squad Leader who always seemed so standoffish and even heartless. She came to see he was quite the opposite, and cared a great deal for the soldiers who put their lives on the line every day. She liked discovering these little things about people she had just met. It was like peeling away layers, each time she found out something new, she would lock it away in her brain and cherish the new information. 

Just recently she had discovered that Auruo had a large family that included several younger siblings who looked up to him like a hero. They had run up to him during a trip to the market with big toothy smiles and dirty faces. They had stared at her with wide eyes and asked Auruo if she was his girlfriend; to which he spluttered and bit his tongue as he yelled that she wasn't, his face as red as a tomato. Petra still teased him about it two weeks later. 

When it came her squad leader, however, she knew next to nothing, only the rumors that he used to be a hardcore thug and was bribed into the Scouting Legion by Erwin. That was hardly anything to go off of and she didn't count it as actual information; which is why she paid special close attention to the dark haired Levi, trying to gather anything that she could. So far she had been unsuccessful and only managed to make a fool of herself on several occasions of awkward eye contact and running face first into each other. He probably thinks she's some big weirdo or something. 

It was the week of Christmas that Petra got a breakthrough. She was giving Hanji some tea when the brunette excitedly asked her, "So would you be willing to help set up a small celebration for Levi's birthday?" The red head had to pause to let the question sink in, "birthday?" For some reason, Petra never imagined that her squad leader actually had a birthday, which was silly, of course he did. Hanji nodded, quite resembling a trembling puppy, "Yes! It's Christmas! How convenient is that? So you'll help? Of course you'll help!" How could she say no? This was precious information that she had been looking for. Her beloved squad leader's birthday. 

She almost felt like thanking Hanji, but instead told her she would help and left feeling electric. 

The whole day of Christmas Petra could hardly contain herself and Levi kept asking her if she was alright. "Why the hell are you smiling so damn much? It's creeping me out." She would just apologize and try to smother her excitement for the evening that was fast approaching. The celebration she and Hanji had put together was small but the brunette had reassured her that he would love it...in his own way. 

Petra had been instructed to wait in the dining room while Hanji went to drag Levi in. The rest of the squad was there, too, as well as Erwin. He had remarked at how pleasantly simple the whole set up was. The tables were neatly cleaned and set and it smelled lightly of pine. The two women had even made it into town to get some wine and a cake. Nothing big, just a simple chocolate cake with a 'Happy Birthday' scrawled onto it. Hanji had let her in on another secret that, on rare occasions, Levi would quietly indulge in chocolate so the cake would be perfect. Petra felt very blessed that she knew someone who talked as much as Hanji, for she held valuable information about her squad leader that would otherwise be unknown to her. 

The door burst open with a very perturbed looking Levi being shoved in by an ecstatic brunette. the small group that had gathers let out a cheerful, "Happy Birthday" which made the shorter man jump back slightly in defense before realizing what exactly was going on. "What the hell is this?" He looked around the room slowly, "This is most definitely not a briefing." Hanji barked out a laugh and slapped Levi on the shoulders and thrust him further into the room, "Of course not! A briefing this late at night? You're so gullible!" She laughed and avoided an almost perfectly placed kick to the shin and continued, "You should be grateful to Petra and I, we did all this ourselves, even cleaned the entire dining room and set up the tables. Pretty good, eh?" Hanji elbowed Levi's side as he swiped a finger across a table and raised an eyebrow, "You and Petra did this?" 

He looked up at her and Petra felt herself freeze up,"Is this the reason you were smiling like an idiot all day?" She managed out a nod and thought she saw the faintest shadow of a smirk on his face. "Well what the fuck is everyone standing around for? I haven't eaten all day." Levi walked over and cut a perfect slice of cake as Petra poured half a cup of the dark wine. 

She startled when the plate that her squad leader had just made was handed over to her and she heard a barely audible, "thank you" coming from his direction. She grabbed the plate in a daze and stared after him as he sat down and ate. 

The room cleared out slowly and eventually all that was left was the dirty dishes, one red head who had set about washing them, and a quiet squad leader who was currently sipping his drink. "Don't do those, I'll make Hanji clean in the morning since she was pretty eager to leave before she had to do any work." Petra looked over her shoulder to see Levi setting his cup down and getting up from the table, "You should be off to bed too, we have a lot to do tomorrow." 

As he began to leave, Petra called out to him and held out a small package as she approached her dark haired squad leader. He raised as eye brow and accepted it, "This was completely unnecessary." The red head shrugged and remained silent as she watched him delicately undo her wrapping job. She was nervous as he pulled out the white piece of cloth that was inside and examined it. 

A cravat. 

"I know you already have the one you wear all the time but I thought that maybe if it ever gets stained or dirty or something then this would come in handy because-" He cut her off by lifting his hand slightly and asking quietly, "You put this here yourself?" She looked down to where he had motioned to and gulped as she saw what he was asking about. It was a little 'L' that she had embroidered with some special gold thread that her father had let her use. It used to be her mothers' and she thought how elegantly simple it was, which made her think of Levi. 

She nodded and blushed, feeling like a silly little school girl. In turn, the dark haired man said nothing but looked at the shining letter and brushed his thumb over it, "Thank you, this was very thoughtful of you... all of this." His soft tone made Petra feel a little uncomfortable, after all she was used to him being quite distant. All she could manage in reply was a meager nod as Levi tucked the gift into his pocket. 

She followed him out into the hall and fidgeted a second before stopping him once again, not believing what she was about to do. As he turned with a raised eye brow she leaned up slightly and softly pecked his cheek and whispered a rushed, "Happy Birthday" before running in the opposite direction, not daring to look back or think about what just happened. She would continue to berate herself for the rest of night for her actions until she fell asleep, her face still hot. 

The next morning she didn't even want to see Levi for fear of being reprimanded and grudgingly walked into the dining room for breakfast. Everyone was already there and she noticed a seat had been saved for her directly to the left of her squad leader. Was this a joke? She didn't see anyone laughing and everything seemed as it normally was as she took a shaky seat next to Levi who was looking over paper work and drinking a cup of dark, strong smelling tea. As she poured her own cup she heard Levi ask lowly, "Sleep well? No hangover?" Petra just about dropped the full cup of tea all herself as she jumped. She looked over at him with wide eyes and nodded, "No... I'm fine. A-and you?" 

He sighed and went back to reading, "Just a little headache, but that's probably from Hanji who made a fuss about cleaning." He didn't seem angry; she kept her eye on him out of the corner of her eye and noticed something which made her heart leap into her throat. A glittering of a small 'L', there, in the corner of his cravat. She silently looked between it and the tired looking face of her precious squad leader, a feeling of pride filling her chest. Yes, there was still so much she had yet to learn about this man.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Secret Santa exchange on Tumblr. This is for hiechuos who wanted a fic about Petra's first Christmas in the Scouting Legion and not knowing it was Levi's birthday. Fluff ensues and the author hopes she did a good job!


End file.
